“I thought he didn’t give a shit about me. That he never wanted to know me. Now I know the real reason he wasn’t in my life was because he was afraid. Because King owned him, just like he owns us. Knox was my father,” Roman breathed. “No matter how angry that makes you, Pop, that is what’s true, and King took my father before I had a chance to know him!”
“Rome.” Val stepped forward.
Roman didn’t tear his eyes from Tony. “Keeping our mouths closed is not working anymore. We might as well find a barn, line ourselves up, and wait quietly for him to take us out one by one. It’s only a matter of time. And he won’t just take us. He’ll take everyone we love, regardless of whether or not they know the truth, and that includes Zo.” Roman pointed at Val, eyes going hard. “We need to kill him—”
All four men jolted when Tony’s cellphone rang in his pocket, the Mozart ringtone so dark and devious that it stopped all their hearts.
Tony snatched the phone from his pocket, checked the display, and then showed it to Roman. “Is this a gamble you’re willing to take?”
Roman saw Leo’s smiling face on the ringing phone’s display, and turned away.
“This is why.” Tony shook the phone. “We need to lie low. For ten years, he has not screwed with us because we have not screwed with him, and I’ll be damned if I start today. If we go after him, he goes after us. Period.” Tony shook the phone again, just as Leo was sent to voice mail and his picture vanished from the screen. “He goes after Leo, Zoey and your mother. They have nothing to do with this. Just like you had nothing to do with this, Rome, before you sent Angie Colt kicking up dust where she didn’t belong.”
Roman turned his back.
Tony sniffled, tossing his phone on the table. “Leo having no idea that any of this is happening is the only thing keeping him safe. It is the only thing keeping Zoey and your mother safe,” Tony finished. “We don’t know that King killed Knox. We don’t know it, Rome. Maybe Knox snapped. Maybe the guilt of missing out on your childhood finally got to him. And… I know…” Tony struggled. “That you’re feeling hurt, and cheated, and I’ll have to find some way to live with that, but I can’t live with you putting your life, all our lives, on the line, because you’re blinded by anger. We just need to stand back and trust that King is taking care of this. That he’s taking care of whoever pulled up that mug shot.”
Roman turned back to him, lips curled down. “Listen to yourself, Pop. ‘Until he takes care of it, until he takes care of it.’ He damn sure will take care of it, right before he takes care of us.”
Tony tried to remain calm, even as Roman came apart. “I know it’s hard. But as hard as it is… we have to trust him. We have no choice.”
“We could tell the truth—”
“Gary,” Val roared.
Gary pressed his mouth closed and let his head fall.
Roman was out of fight, too, turning his back to all of them with a shake of his head.
Val clawed his nails against the balcony.
Tony chewed his lip. “We stay cool, stay normal. Don’t give the family any reason to worry or be suspicious and this will all just… blow over.”
When no argument came, Tony took his first real breath that afternoon.
Silence swept in, took hold, and persevered until they slowly broke away, leaving Roman standing alone on the balcony, gritting his teeth as he stared off into the setting sun.
***
That evening, Jessica found herself watching the door of her closet. Her purse hung from the handle. Val and Tony’s credit cards still sat in the zippered pocket.
Twenty-four hours.
She’d had those credit cards for twenty-four fucking hours.
Standard protocol called for immediate surrender of those cards the moment she got them under her sticky fingers. The FBI’s Cyber Division would then need twenty-four hours to unlock every transaction ever made. It was an expedient process, one that was sure to give her the goods she needed to push the case forward. If she had turned them in.
She’d only swiped the cards to further break down an already on-edge Val, and to send his father spiraling into paranoia with him, but she’d still been required to hand them over. On top of that, credit card records for men as rich and powerful as Val always held a wealth of information. For all she knew, Val could be another wealthy man who felt strong-armed into making illegal donations to any number of King’s campaigns. If she could find proof of that, she wouldn’t even need to prove Val had killed the Blacks to be granted an arrest warrant, and she could take them both down at once. Two birds.
If she had turned them in.
After walking “home” with Leo the night before, he’d been too nervous to initiate their second kiss. They’d hugged at her door, smelling each other’s hair, breathing in each other’s scents. He had found the courage to peck her good-bye on the cheek, blushing the entire time.
She’d known then, right then, that she wasn’t going to take the cards to cyber. It would hurt him, and though she knew hurting him was inevitable, it was no longer something she wanted. It was not going to come easy.
Still watching her purse, writhing against her bedsheets, she fought the urge to push her hand into her pajama bottoms, past her panties, and strum her throbbing clit to the sound of his deep, buttery voice.
“I can’t stop thinking about that kiss on the water tower,” Leo breathed, his voice projecting an agony through the phone that she was sure was present on his face.
She tried to fight the part of her that yearned to see him again. To hear that voice in person, to feel his skin, those eyes, as they traveled every inch of her, striking fire to each part they hit, to draw that bottom lip between hers again.
Biting her own, her hand travelled to the seat of her panties, and she released her lip when the tips of her fingers found her aching clit through the fabric. His gravelly voice joined her strumming fingers, tight with tension, in dire need of release.
“Can I please see you? Can I come pick you up?”
Jessica’s eyes flew open. “I’m in my pajamas.”
“I need to see you.”
The right answer was always yes. Any extra moment she could spend with this man and, in extension, investigating his family, was a moment she was forced to accept. What threw her was that she wanted to accept. Not because Leo equaled Val, and Val equaled King, but because Leo equaled…
Her stomach exploded with butterflies.
Leo equaled that.
“Okay,” she said.
His exhale made her smile. On the other end of the line, he seemed to be shuffling around.
“Pack a bag,” he said.
Jessica nearly dropped the phone. “A bag? We’ve barely cleared our second date and you’re already inviting me to sleep over? You could still be a murderous lunatic for all I know.”
“Technically, we’ve just cleared our fourth date.”
“Sunday dinners with your family do not count as dates.”
“They do to Ma.”
Jessica laughed.
She could hear the smile in his voice. “And I think we both know the only murderous lunatic here is you. That ass of yours is going to kill me before I even have a chance to enjoy it.”
“You’re so corny.”
“Pack enough for two days.”
“What about Novsky?”
“You work from home, right?”
“You don’t.”
“Novsky can live without me for a couple days.”
“Leo…”
“I want to take you to my favorite spot in the Hamptons.”
“What spot?”
“It’s a surprise.” He paused. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” She meant it.
“It’ll take me about an hour to get to Westchester after I get dressed.”
Her pussy and heart had started humming together, making such beautiful music under her warming flesh that she’d almost forgotten who the hell she was. That her �
�house” in Westchester was a completely empty—save for a limitless supply of takeout food—stakeout location. A location where Chet was surely in the middle of demolishing a Philly Cheesesteak while he listened in on their entire conversation.
“No. Not Westchester. I mean, I’m not in Westchester.”
“Where are you?”
Her heartbeat tripled. “Why don’t I just meet you at your apartment?”
“No.”
Jessica faltered. He’d been trying so hard to get her to his place, and into his bed, that she was shocked at that no. Noting the panic in his voice, she frowned at the ceiling. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one with something to hide. His adamant refusal only made her want to see his apartment ten times more.
“How about we meet in the middle?” he asked.
“Central Park?” she offered. “Obelisk Monument?”
“Done. Give me an hour.”
Jessica hung up the phone and had the urge to throw it. Before she could, it rang, and she answered without looking at the display. “Please fuck off.”
“Jessica loves Leee--o, Jessica loves Leeee-o,” Chet chanted, to the “Rocky Loves Emily” beat from the 3 Ninjas movie.
Jessica hung up and dropped her hand to the edge of her bed, allowing her phone to slip from her fingers and fall to her wood floor.
“I am so unbelievably fucked,” she said to the ceiling.
Actually, she wasn’t fucked. Not in the way she wanted to be. Not in the way she hoped she would be sometime in the next two days.
With a sigh, lips parted and eyes fluttering shut, she dipped her fingers into her underwear, strumming at her swollen bud with an expedience she knew would make her cum fast. She pretended her fingers were Leo’s. Pretended the nails knocking at her pounding entry were the edges of his perfect teeth. He’d bite in, inflicting the tiniest hint of pain, and then soothe it with the bed of his warm tongue in apology. She bet he ate pussy like no other. Every time he looked at her, she could see it in his eyes. How nasty he was. That there was nothing he wouldn’t do to make the object of his affection scream until they were hoarse.
A whimper escaped her lips as blasts of pleasure shot through her, each more intense than the last as she pictured his face.
Leo.
She finished in less than a minute.
***
Leo’s mouth fell open, a moan trapped in his throat as the first shot of warm spunk hit his aching stomach, dripping into the ridges of his abdomen as the swollen tip blasted more. He tugged out shot after shot, faster and with more vigor than he knew he was capable of. The load was so enormous, he almost wished he’d climbed into the shower before starting this session.
This was the first time he’d touched himself to the thought of her serious face, her breathy voice, her long black hair, and that plush, plump, curvy body.
After teasing the throbbing tip under his fingers through their entire phone call, he’d shoved his hand past the waistband of his boxers the moment they’d hung up, crying out as he took frantic hold of his swollen shaft and drew a long, gut wrenching tug, knowing he’d need to get it out of his system if he was going to get through the next two days with any dignity intact.
She’d agreed to pack a bag and leave with him for two days, and he knew he’d have to act right. His behavior during this trip was going to play a huge role in whether or not she decided to let him get between those thick brown thighs.
Usually, when he found himself in this state, he would find one of the girls partying in his apartment, girls he could hear laughing outside his bedroom door, and let one of them spread her legs or suck him off, but tonight… that was the last thing he wanted.
He hauled another taut tug, flinching as her face stained his mind and his heart. The blasts finally slowed, leaving a sticky trail.
Thirty seconds, just picturing her face.
If he only lasted thirty seconds inside her, he would be mortified. Inconsolable.
Thirty fucking seconds.
He released himself, staring at the ceiling in awe, waiting for his breathing to slow. He hadn’t beat his meat in years. With so many women at his disposal, all ages, races, and creeds, he’d never had to.
But none of them were Ashley.
Thirty seconds after he’d licked his palm and spread it over the tip of his engorged dick, their first kiss on the water tower had invaded his mind. How soft her skin was. The sweet taste of her lips. That wet, eager tongue. He’d thought of that shy smile. That real smile. The one she only ever gave him by accident.
He’d thought of that smile and blew his load in an instant, so hard, and with such toe-curling, mind-blowing fervor that he’d screamed, back arching off the bed as he covered his stomach in his juices, nearly kicking the sheets from their corners as his heels dug into the mattress, yanking every last shot with a firm fist before collapsing onto his sweaty back.
“Jesus Christ,” he heaved.
He plopped a hand on his stomach, groaning when it landed right on top of remnants of his release he’d forgotten was there.
Leo didn’t know what it was going to take to get Ashley Williams under his sheets, but he was going to give it everything he had.
18
The moment Jessica saw him leaning on the black railing surrounding the Obelisk Monument in Central Park, wearing a white t-shirt and fitted khakis, a pair of sunglasses shading his eyes, Jessica knew it was over.
This investigation was over.
She no longer had to force a smile to her face at the sight of him. It came naturally. She no longer felt debilitating anger when she flashed back to him calling her Beer Belly Borgia. Now she understood why he had. Worst of all, she no longer yearned to crush his ego, because she now knew there was no ego to crush. Instead, she ached to nurture him. To pull him in her arms and let him cradle his head to her chest. She wanted him to know how special he was, because now she could see that he didn’t even know it himself.
He leaned on the railing with his hands in his pockets, long legs crossed at the ankle. A white weekender bag hung from his wrist. He searched the area, appearing aloof, but when he caught sight of her moving toward him, a bright smile betrayed his unruffled demeanor. He pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head, and his eyes were smiling too.
Unable to wipe the grin from her face, Jessica broke into a jog, dropping her duffle bag on the ground as she neared him.
He stood and dropped his bag, too, just in time to catch her around the waist when she leapt into his arms. Falling back, he exploded into laughter, bracing himself when the launch of her body almost took him off his feet. He found his footing, holding her up with one arm while she encircled her legs around his waist.
They moaned into the joining of their lips, neither sure who had initiated the kiss, and neither willing to let it end.
She pulled back, raking her nails through the hair at his nape.
“Hey, Wednesday,” he whispered.
“Hey.”
His eyes went to her smiling lips as an even wider grin spread along his. “You have no idea what that smile does to me.”
She unwrapped her legs from his waist, but he kept a hold on her, forcing her to her tiptoes, bodies flush.
“I really don’t think you have any idea…” His words slowed as he watched her smile vanish. “Aaand there it goes. ’Bye, smile. Hope we can meet again? Soon? Within the year?”
She pushed out of his arms, drinking in his deep laugh as he covered his chest to block her blows.
“Sorry I’m late.” She pointed behind her to the bag she’d dropped. “I couldn’t decide what to throw in this damn bag, and then once I actually left the house, I realized I forgot to unplug the fucking iron. So I had to go back. Huge fire hazard.”
He nodded at her, attempting to bring a serious gleam to his eyes. “You’re a huge fire hazard.”
“Oh God.”
“You should come with a warning label.”
“Oh God.”
“Wa
rning: This woman will almost never smile at you, and when she finally does, you’re a fucking goner.”
“Stop.” She pushed him again.
He took her arm, pulling her with him as he stumbled back. “Warning: This one carries a Glock 22.” He nodded to her bag with a raised eyebrow. “I’ll bet every dollar in my bank account you packed that Glock.”
Her own eyebrow lifted and she fought a smile, because she had. When she realized she hadn’t stopped smiling in over five minutes, she thought Leo could use a few warning labels himself.
Warning: This one is cheesy as hell, but will make a quick swipe for your heart when you’re not looking.
Warning: This one will tempt you to throw your entire career down the drain, and you won’t even see it coming until you already have.
The cards she’d swiped from Tony and Val still sat in the purse at her side, which meant they officially wouldn’t be submitted to Cyber for another forty-eight hours, coming in at a grand total of seventy-two. Seventy-two hours, holding two substantial pieces of evidence. If Harper found out, she wouldn’t just be pulled from the case, she would be suspended, pending an investigation.
Yes, Leo Romanovsky definitely needed a warning label.
He stepped closer, their heated eyes locked, and she thought about how hard she’d just cum to the thought of his face an hour earlier. How her back had bent off the mattress picturing those cognac eyes darkening in pleasure. Those delicious full lips fastened to her clit. Those thick fingers pushing inside, prickling pleasure at every piece of hot flesh he touched. She’d finished so hard to the thought of those bulging, tattooed arms shoving her thighs apart, she’d damn near fallen off the bed.
She blinked back to the present just in time to catch his lips pushing against hers.
He moaned into the kiss, and she growled, clawing her nails down the back of his neck. The remnants of her filthy thoughts sent her driving into the kiss with urgency, pushing her tongue past his lips, moaning when he encircled her in a tight embrace. She did the same, locking her trembling hands around his neck as he pulled and melded her body to his.
Loving Leo (The Romanovsky Brothers Book 3) Page 19
